There has been a demand for low-calorie and low-fat foods in order to prevent obesity, geriatric diseases and similar troubles caused by excessively high caloric intake and accumulation of cholesterol. Fats of animal origin, in particular, contribute a great deal to the increase in caloric and cholesterol level. Hence, reducing the content of animal fat in foods would be very effective in diminishing obesity, geriatric diseases and similar troubles.
Attempts to lower the fat content in foods have so far been concentrated principally on those foods which are composed mainly of fat and oil (e.g., spreads, cream and margarine) and on defatting of special foods, such as nuts, fish meal and some dairy products. In ordinary foods, however, little effort has been devoted toward deliberately diminishing fatty components that are hazardous to health and toward making up for the loss in sensory and physical properties, unlike efforts directed toward production of low-salt and low-sugar foods.
Take, for example, foods made of minced meat (a food material relatively rich in fat), such as hamburgers, shaomais and meat loaves. In this case, if minced meat from which fat has been previously removed is used as the meat material, the resultig processed foods are dry, firm and crumbly in texture and monotonous in taste, lacking the juicy feel characteristics of meat products. Vegetables and other food materials are generally added to minimize such deterioration in mouthfeel and taste. However, it is quite impossible to achieve satisfactory taste and texture comparable with ordinary foods containing sufficient amounts of fat and oil.